Suburban Redevelopment Fund
"The Suburban Redevelopment Fund" was a criminal organization appearing in the video game L.A. Noire. They serve as the primary antagonists who appear in the Arson chapter. Biography The Suburban Redevelopment Fund, led by Leland Monroe, was the driving force behind a complex conspiracy to scam the US government out of a large amount of money by throwing up sub-par and dangerous houses, under the guise of building homes for GIs returning home from WWII, along the path of a new freeway, which the government would soon purchase back from Monroe for imminent domain, essentially giving Monroe and his cohorts a dollar for something he paid a penny for. Shockingly, nearly all high-ranking city officials were involved the plot to varying degrees, including the mayor, the DA, The chief of police, and many corrupt cops including Roy Earle. Defeat Greed proved to be the SRF's downfall. In his haste to complete the fraudulent houses before the government buyback, Monroe and Fontaine used mentally ill former flamethrower operator, Ira Hogeboom to burn houses of people who refused to sell, forcing them to do just that. To make sure these people were not home at the time of the fires, Monroe held a promotional contest for a free trip to Catalina Island and then rigged it so the specific hold-outs would win and therefore their houses would be vacant. Unfortunately, this failed because two innocent families decided, at the last minute, not to take the trip and died in the fires, sending Monroe scrambling to cover his tracks and putting the already unstable Hogeboom completely over the edge. In addition, the property development Rancho Escondido was heavily burnt down one night, and a man named Lou Buchwalter died due to a major construction accident on a property he was working on. The fatal fires and construction death prompted LAPD Arson detectives Cole Phelps, Hershel Biggs and, eventually, California Fire and Life investigator Jack Kelso to begin investigating. Phelps and Biggs arrested several suspected arsonists, interviewed Leland Monroe, investigated Dr. Fontaine's office, and realized that the real reason was not through insurance, but eminent domain instead. They quickly realized that the company planned to extort millions of dollars from the government, in addition to the fact that the properties' true values would be next to nothing, adding that a false higher claim would eventually be declared by California Fire and Life, and the fact that the people who paid their deposits would get their money back. Meanwhile, Kelso investigated the construction sites, examined the Buchwalter case file, and searched Leland Monroe's office. He then visited three bug sprayer companies and searched a countryside farmhouse. Kelso eventually uncovered the conspiracy (after several attempts by Monroe to kill him) and the SRF was disbanded permanently. Monroe was arrested after being shot by Kelso, Sheldon was killed by Fontaine, Fontaine was then killed by Hogeboom, Hogeboom was, in turn, mercy killed by Kelso, and most other members escaped as most of them are at Phelps' funeral, covering themselves by giving hypocritical eulogies for him. Members *Leland Monroe - President of Elysian Fields Developments and leader of the SRF. *Harlen J. Fontaine - Doctor and psychiatrist of Ira Hogeboom, his role in the plot was to mentally twist and turn Hogeboom's actions for their benefit, including burning people's homes. *Curtis Benson - Owner of California Fire & Life, used to spy on Jack Kelso for Monroe and had the cheap houses inspected and passed in order to allay any suspicions regarding the fraud. *William Worrell - Chief of LAPD, suspended Cole Phelps. *Roy Earle - Corrupt Vice detective, spied on and leaked Cole Phelpes' affair with Elsa Lichtmann. *Donald Sandler - District Attorney of LA. *Raymond Gordon - LA Times editor. *Archie Colemyer - Lieutenant of Vice. *Courtney Sheldon - Medical Student of Fontaine, unwitting pawn, used by Fontaine to sell stolen morphine to fund the SRF, then murdered him with it. *Ira Hogeboom - Former flamethrower operator, manipulated via therapy by the villains to burn the houses of families who had refused to sell to Monroe but accidentally killed one of them just as he had done in the war, sending him over the edge. Category:Organizations Category:Video Game Villains Category:Imprisoned Category:Corrupt Officials Category:Oppressors Category:Dissolved Organizations Category:Businessmen Category:Murderer Category:Liars Category:Cheater Category:Mind-Breakers Category:Criminals Category:Conspirators Category:Failure-Intolerant Category:Blackmailers